COLUMBUS, Ind. — As drugmakers look to scale up production of COVID-19 vaccines in the coming weeks, pregnant women across the country, including in Columbus, say they are faced with a difficult choice: Should they get vaccinated?
So far, guidance from public health officials and governing bodies in the medical field has been cautious because there is limited data available on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines administered during pregnancy.
As with most new medications and treatments, pregnant women were excluded from the clinical trials of the two authorized COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, experts say evidence about the safety of the vaccines is reassuring from studies that inadvertently included women who didn’t know they were pregnant when they enrolled, The Associated Press reported.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said that COVID-19 vaccines “should not be withheld from pregnant individuals” and is encouraging pregnant women to discuss individual risks and benefits with their health care providers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said pregnant women “may choose to be vaccinated” and that experts believe the vaccines are “unlikely to pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant” based on how the shots work.
During a White House briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said 20,000 pregnant women in the U.S. had been vaccinated and there had been “no red flags.”
While no women of childbearing age are currently eligible to get vaccinated in Indiana — except for healthcare workers and first responders — local doctors are already starting to field questions about whether the vaccines are safe during pregnancy, including Dr. Rachel Reed, an obstetrician and gynecologist at OB/GYN Associates of Columbus.
Reed said she understands the concerns of expectant mothers but said there is no evidence or reason to think the two authorized vaccines would be unsafe for pregnant women, women planning to become pregnant or women who are breastfeeding.
“We have no reason to think the vaccine is unsafe,” said Reed, who added that she has received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. “We have every reason to know that COVID is unsafe, even in otherwise young, healthy women.”
For the complete story, see Friday’s Republic.
